Method of preparing a precooked frozen food package



Oct. 23, 1956 L. E. BLILEY 2,768,086

METHOD OF PREPARING A PRECOOKED FROZEN FOOD PACKAGE Filed Oct. 20, 1954INVENTOR Leo Elihgy BY. Z9/MXN! ATTORNEYS States Patent` METHOD orPREPARING A PREcooKED FROZEN Foon PACKAGE Leo E. Bliley, Virginia Beach,Va. Application October 20, 1954, Serial No. 463,445

3 Claims. (Cl. 99-192) This invention relates to packaged frozen foodproducts of Italian-type cookery. The packaged food product of thepresent invention comprises a hermetically sealed container enclosing afrozen, readyeto-heat and eat food product, in which there is astarchy-type food portion and a condiment or sauce portion which is keptseparate from tlie Astarchy-type food portion.

More specifically, the present invention relates to an Italian-type foodproduct such as spaghetti with a sauce, packaged as a frozen foodproduct. According to the present invention, the sauce and spaghetti arefrozen separately but are packaged in a single container.v The product,when thawed, heated and served, presents precisely the 'saineappearance, taste, and texture as a fresh food product which wasprepared immediately before serving.

Prior to the present invention, other frozen Italian-type fod productshad been on the market. For example, there has been available a frozenspaghetti dinner in which the Spaghetti and sauce are frozen together,then heated and eaten together.A This type of product is very similar tocanned spaghetti in that the spaghetti, through prolonged Contact withthe sauce, becomes soggy, loses strength, and becomes saturated with theoils and ilavorings from the sauce.

Spaghetti and similar products which have been canned or frozenaccording to prior methods, while they may be line food products,developed as the result of much eX- prini'ntation, nevertheless lack thecris'pin'ess, flavor and ar iria of 'freshly-prepared products. One ofthe secrets ood cooking is the provision in theV food item of len,distribution of taste elements. Thus, the best i r 'those in which thereare relatively large pieces of` different, 'foods mixed together. Should'these different salad foods be comminuted into tine, admixed part s,'the delightful taste of the salad would be lost because the ground orchopped particles would blend or blur all of the different lavoringelements together. Such 'fmixtue of lineV particles would have a flat orbland taste, frtlier than the stimulating mixture of `flavors which is'available from a salad.

The saine is true of products such as spaghetti. The taste of -the/saucecan be best appreciated when it is fresh lymprepared and placed overfreshly cooked spaghetti. Whe the individual components of a sauce areallowed to y ogefthe'rfor an extended period, as theyrdoinaican, "zesty,ta'st'e of the` sauce tends to be lost because 4the is,blurred. When aIsauce and the spaghetti with 'is to beused are allowed to standtogetherfor V "a furthery loss in taste sensation "is observable, bcauseth'e sauce loses flavor in and to itself, and a v'fur- "b`lurringof the taste 'of the different .food coms occurs between lthe spaghettiVand the sauce.` v 'samejgeneral observations are true with respectVfoods of A'the same type, such as ravioli, inani- `gnocchi, and ricelpreparations. Further'- any pro V'ongedjcontact between a starchyfood'prod'- and ure sauce with which 'it `is to be served results "uct 2in a sogginess and gradual deterioration, and even some disintegrationwhich makesvthe food much less palatable.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a frozenfood product which includes a starchy food and a sauce therefor whichproduct can be thawed and heated to provide a food which closelyVsir'nulatesa freshly-prepared product.

A further object of the invention is lto provide a 4sirnple andeconomical method for the packaging of spaghetti with sauce so that whenconsumed it will appear to have been freshly prepared.

These and many other objects of the present invention are achieved by aprocess in which the starchy food and the condiment or sauce portion areseparately prepared and cooked. The sauce portion is then placed in ahermetically scalable package and it is frozen. After the sauce portionis frozen, the starchy food is superposed on the frozen sauce so as tofill the package. The entire pack; age may then be frozen andhermetically sealed.

The separate freezing of the two components is an effective way forpreventing undesirable contact between the sauce and the starchy-foodproduct. The freezing process also prevents loss of ilavor throughblurring of the different sources of flavor which are present in thesauce. The frozen food product may then be heated yin the hermeticallysealed package until it is thawed, the package may then be so positionedas to release the contents in such a way that the sauce is distributedin a superposed position with respect to the starchy food, and theproduct is ready to eat.

The invention may be illustrated further by reference to the drawingswhich accompany this application.

In the drawings,

Fig. l is a perspective view of a container enclosing a frozen foodproduct in hermetically sealed condition;

Fig. 2 isa sectional view in vertical elevation along line 2-2 of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation in partial section of a food product preparedand dispensed from the package illus'- trated in Figs. l and 2.

Although a wide number of different packaging materials and packageshapes are available today for use in the frozen food iield, it has beenfound highly d'esirf able, with products of the type to which thisinvention relates, to employ a package of thin aluminum foil of theshape illustrated in Fig. l. Such a package is rectangular in horizontal:cross section, but is in the form of an isosceles trapezoid in verticalcross section in Aany direction (Fig. 2 The particular utility of acontainer of this shape will be more evident as the description of theinvention proceeds.

Where the container l@ is fabricated from thin aluminum sheet or foil,the conductive metal greatly facilitates heat transfer to and from thecontents of the package. Consequently, freezing and cooking of theproduct `can be accomplished quite rapidly. ln order to seal the packageheretically, the container 10 may be `provided along the upper peripheryof its walls with a reinforced edge portion 12 formed by doublingback a`part of `the sheet upon itself. The sealing member or lid 11 may besimilarly formed of thin metal sheet or foil. vThe sealing member neednot be as thick or strong structurally'as Athe container, since itsfunction is sealing 'rather than structural. The sealing member 11provided with a depending peripheral strip i4 which is `approxitnatelythe same size as the reinforced lip l2 ofthe container. In order tosea'lthe container hermetically, it is merely necessary 'to crimp togetherthe strip E12" around l'the edge ofthe sealing meinberQand theyreinforced portion 12 of the container wall. In Aorder to facilitateopening of the "package, the'lid 11 is desirably provided with agripping tab 15, which may be merely an extension of one side of theperipheral strip 14.

In preparing a frozen food according to the present invention, theparticular shape of the container is quite important. Where thecontainer, in vertical cross section, is an isosceles trapezoid asdescribed above, rcmoval of the frozen food product from the containeris considerably facilitated. Furthermore, adjacent packages are moreeasily frozen and later separated, despite thin coatings of ice whichmay form on the surface of the packages where condensation takes placeon the outer surfaces of the container. However, while the shape of thepackage is preferably as described above, it should be understood thatthe process of the present invention may be employed in connection withpackages of practically any size and shape. Preferably, packages of arelatively small size are employed in order to simplify heat exchange,thus facilitating freezing and thawing operations.

Where the frozen food product which is prepared according to the presentinvention is spaghetti with sauce, the following general procedure maybe observed. The sauce is cooked and prepared in such a way that it isready for eating. It is then placed in the bottom of the container whereit forms a relatively thick bottom layer 16. Where the container is of asize to contain about 24 ozs. liquid, it has been found that 6 to l0ozs. of sauce is an adequate portion. The sauce is frozen in thecontainer 10 so that the layer of sauce 16 becomes a solid, frozenblock. It has been found that freezing is an adequate preservationmethod for almost all types of spaghetti sauces for periods of timecorresponding to normal shelf life periods. The frozen block of sauce 16is thus preservable for large scale distribution and will retain itsoriginal avor and aromas as long as it is maintained in its frozenstate.

In order to complete the frozen food product, freshly cooked spaghettiis drained and enough is placed in the container 10 to fill thecontainer completely. Although the lid 11 may be hermetically sealed onthe container either before or after freezing of the food, it ispreferred to seal the package before freezing in order to eliminate anypossibility of contamination of the food during freezing. Therefore,after filling the container 10 with the cooked, drained spaghetti 17,the sealing lid 11 is hermetically sealed to the container by crimpingthe lid 11 to the reinforced upper area 12 of the container around theentire periphery of the lid. The crimping operation produces a centraldepression 13 in the lid while forming, at the same time, a raisedperipheral edge 1S around its circumference.

After the sealed food package is completely frozen, it is ready forstorage. When it is desired to consume the contents of the package, itmay be heated sufficiently to thaw the contents and heat them toconsuming temperature. The heating may be done by placing the sealedcontainer in an oven. It is desirable that the hermetic seal bemaintained until after the thawing and heating has taken place. As thetemperature within the frozen food container is raised, steam isgenerated which is kept within the container by the hermetic seal. Thissteam is very effective in producing the desired thawing and heatingaction within the container. After the package is sufficiently heatedfor consumption, the lid 11 of the container may be removed easily bygripping the tab 15 and lifting it. This exposes the contents of thepackage to View. It is quite obvious that even after thawing andheating, the sauce has not migrated into the spaghetti, but has remainedin the bottom layer 16. In order to serve the spaghetti, a plate isplaced over the package, and the container is then inverted. In order todispense the contents, it is merely necessary to lift the container awayfrom the food. Y The spaghetti, since it is limp, will then lose theshape of the package and tend to conform to the shape of the plate. Itwill be found that the sauce portion tends to remain in position on topof the spaghetti, as depicted in Fig. 3. The heated sauce 16 appears tobe freshly prepared sauce which has just been placed over a batch offreshly cooked spaghetti 17. Not only is the appearance identical with afreshly prepared food product, but the taste, texture and aroma of thefood are indistinguishable from the freshly prepared product.

In order to make the invention more clear, a few specific examples ofapplications of the invention will be described.

EXAMPLE I Frozen spaghetti alla novelli Spaghetti alla novelli may beprepared according to any standard recipe. A suitable recipe may be4found in The Talisman Italian Cook Book by Ada Boni, published by theCrown Publishers, 1inc., 419 Fourth Avenue, New York 16, New York. Aftera sauce has been prepared as described by Boni on page l5l, 8 ozs. maybe placed in the bottom of a sheet aluminum container and frozen at atemperature of about 0 F. Freshly cooked spaghetti is drained thoroughlyand is then placed over the frozen sauce in a quantity sufficient tofill the container. The container is then hermetically sealed and theentire contents of the container are chilled to about 0 to 10 belowzero. After the contents have been frozen, the package may be stored forseveral months at 0 without deterioration of the contents.

In order to consume the contents, the closed container is heated in anoven for one hour at 450 F. This is sufficient to thaw the spaghetticompletely and warm the contents of the container to normal consumptiontemperatures. rl`he spaghetti and sauce may be dispensed from thepackage by inverting the package on a plate. The product prepared inthis way is indistinguishable in any respect from freshly preparedspaghetti alla novelli. The spaghetti has the texture of freshly cookedspaghetti. The aroma and flavor of the sauce are unimpaired.

EXAMPLE Il Frozen gnocchi Gnocchi are Italian style dumplings which maybe prepared in a variety of ways. Green gnocchi are prepared by mixingtogether potatoes, spinach, egg yolks, cheese, salt, and suiiicientflour to form a binder. These ingredients are cut into pieces about oneto two inches long, and are cooked in boiling salted water. Gnocchi aredesirably served with a tornato sauce. There are a great many recipesfor tomato sauces, and practically al1 tomato sauces are satisfactoryfor preservation by freezing. In order to prepare a frozen gnocchi foodproduct, about 6 ozs. of tomato sauce are placed in a container andfrozen. The cooked gnocchi are then placed on the frozen layer of saucein the container in a quantity sucient to ll the container. Thecontainer is then hermetically sealed, and the contents of the containerare frozen.

Y The frozen gnocchi and sauce are prepared for consumption inpractically the same manner as were the spaghetti and spaghetti sauce.The hermetically sealed container with its frozen contents are placed inan oven and heated for about an hour at 350 F. After this length oftime, the contents are heated to a temperature satisfactory for eating.The sealing lid is removed, and the package is inverted on a servingplate. The product thus obtained is indistinguishable from freshlyprepared green gnocchi with tomato sauce. There is no other method nowin use for distributing on a large scale a product which makes availableto all, with a minimum of trouble and preparation, frozen food productswhich are indistinguishable from freshly prepared products. This isparticularly so in the case of dumplings. Dumplings are notorious fortheir-sogg'iuess if they 'are-allowed to ``r`e main in ifontct `withliquidsnfor lany length ofv time. Nothing is less tas'tefl'lly or 'less`appetizing `than a soggy dumpling.V n1y b`y the process "ofthelprsentinvention isthere `madeavailableto the public a -dumplingpreparation which vretains the-texture and flavor 0f ifreshly prepared*products; despite the factthat mass distribution is possible throughVemployment of the .present invention.

EXAMPLE III lFrozen rice with `sausage While dumplings prs the seiiisabsorption conse( nt giness, ri'e notorions for 'swelling *and -disinemng aft`""` proldng'd c'ntact with liquid. W thv present-iii enti'on,'it is pei*- fectly possibile 'to r'efa bf f n rice dishes which areappetizing 'and pleasant in 'appeaanc'e when consumed. Y i

Rice with 'sausage may be prepared by 'cooking rice in boiling Water orsoup s't'ek 'until it is' tender. The sausagel may be preparedvin aAsauce such as that des cribedby Boni onpage 162 of her book, previouslyArferred to. Alternatively, any otherftype of sauce may be employed. Thereference vto Boni is made merely by way of suggestion, and Ithisreference is made merely for clarification of the invent-ion;

In preparing frozerrrice withI sausage, th'e sausage sauce is placed intheubottorn" of the container. In a 21 oz. container about 10 l'to l2ozs. 'of sausage in sauce be plated in 'the container. The layer of'sasage 'probiere of' is then frozen. The doked rice is then drainedandplace'd on fdp et the rrozensusjage sauce in a quantity' sirfniem tolill the container. The container is the'n herintic'ally sealed, and the'contents are lfitizen rapidly at low temperature. To serve theproduet,it is 'merely neces-v sary to heat in an oven for about 45 .iintes at400 F. Shorter heating periods are desirable with rice products in orderto avoid undesirable excessive contacts between the lowermost ricegrains and the sausage sauce.

When the heated food product is dispensed from the container byinverting it, the rice with sausage looks and tastes exactly like afreshly prepared food. When it is sprinkled with cheese, it is ready toeat. A serving of 21 ozs. of this food product is more than ample forone person.

EXAMPLE IV Frozen ravioli Ravioli is prepared by inclosing within twostrips of dough a small quantity of a meat-containing mixture. Theportions of ravioli are then cooked by boiling them in water for abouttwenty minutes. Ravioli is usually served with a meat sauce, althoughany type of sauce such as a tomato or mushroom sauce may also beemployed.

In order to prepare a frozen ravioli food product, a cooked sauce isfresh frozen in a container. In a 2l1/2-oz. liquid measure container, 4to 6 ounces of ravioli sauce are sufficient. Over the frozen sauce layerthere is placed a suicient quantity of cooked and drained ravioli tofill the container. The container is then hermetically sealed and theentire package is frozen rapidly at a low temperature.

The frozen product may be thawed and heated to a temperature suitablefor consumption by placing the frozen food container in an oven forabout an hour at about 350 F. After removing the sealing lid andinverting the container on a serving plate, a delicious food is readyfor eating.

EXAMPLE V Frozen mancotti Manicotti or little muifs are somewhat similarto ravioli. Manicotti is prepared by inclosing within rectangles of softdough a small amount of ricotta. The porti'on'sfo hmanicfotti are then`boiled f'or "about 10 `minutesY in salted water. Manicotti iscustomarily served with tom-ato sauce, although other types of sauce maybe used. In ord-er to prepare frozen manicotti, the sauce is frozen a'sthe 'bottom layer in a container. In a 21% oz..liquid measure container,about 4 to 6 ozs. of saucea're sutlicient. Over the `frozen sauce areplaced the pieces of manicotti. The 'container isvthe'n hermeticallysealed and the contents are frozen rapidly at a low temperature.

In order to prepare the manicotti for consumption, it is heated forabout Val1 hour in a'hot oven; Upon inversion of the container,delicious manicotti, coveredwith sauce, is available. The texture of thedough is good, free from sogginess. The aroma and flavor of thev,sauceare Yprecisely the same as those of a freshly made sauce.

Frozen pennoni with mushroom salice Pemiiii lwish mushroom sauce may tr'easily prepared as affrz'en *food product. The mushroom sauce is made upfirst. In a al1/3 `liquid measure container, about 5 to 7 ozs. Uof theYsauce may be employed. The pennoni type `m`ac roni is bile'd'separately from Ythe sance, and after draining, is 'placed over thefrozen jsue ifi amount 'sufficient to ll the container. After 'thereon'-taiier is hermetically sealed, it may be frozen at about #10 F. Thefrozen product 'may' be stored for several months at 0 F. with noevidence of deterioration, loss of flavor', 0r lss of lteXtre id rfr'i.

The pennoni macaroni is prepared for serving by iiae ing in `an oven inthe her'neticallylsealed container. After dispensing from the container,a delicious macaroni aisfh is available which is identical in'consumption attractive# ness to the freshlylprepared product. Theindividual pie'c'e's of macaroni retain their freshl'yc'ooked"characteri'stcs and iio't soggy i s'itd With oils or tlfe' components of the"sauce.

While this example has described pennoni macaroni, it will be obviousthat any other type of macaroni may be substituted for pennoni.

EXAMPLE VII Frozen lasagne In order to prepare a frozen noodle and sauceproduct,

lasagne is prepared and cooked in boiling water for about 20 minutes. Ameat sauce is prepared separately. In a 211/3 oz. liquid measurecontainer, about 4 to 6 ozs. of meat sauce is sufficient. The meat sauceis frozen in the bottom of the container and the container is then lledwith cooked, drained lasagne. After hermetic sealing, the entire packageis rapidly frozen to about -10 F.

It has been found that this product may be stored for several monthsduring distribution and normal handling. No loss in flavor or aroma isdiscernible. The texture of the noodles, even in the layer adjacent thefrozen sauce, is identical with that of freshly-prepared noodles. Thisinvention thus provides a means for temporarily preserving all types ofnoodles and similar products, together with a sauce.

In each of the examples above, there has been disclosed a specific typeof starchy food product which is served with a sauce. While in some ofthe examples, reference has been made to tomato sauce or meat sauce ormushroom sauce, it should be understood that any type of sauce which issusceptible to preservation by freezing may be employed equally well.Similarly, all types of starchy food products such as noodles,dumplings, ravioli, macaroni, spaghetti, and rice are susceptible of usein connection with this invention.

While the preferred form of container has been described in detailabove, a great many forms of containers may be employed. However, inorder to preserve the illusion that the thawed and heated frozen foodproduct is freshly prepared, the sauce layer must be confined in a spacewhich is relatively compact and fairly deep.y Thus, When the package isinverted to dispense the product for consumption, the sauce will beejected from the package as a compact body rather than as a thin layer.This cornpact body more nearly simulates a freshly prepared product thana thin layer, since when freshly prepared sauce is dispensed from aspoon, or a ladle, it tends to be dispensed in a relatively small area.sauce is maintained in a compact body within the frozen package, thereis less area of contact between the sauce and the starchy food productthan would be the case if a large area, relatively thin layer wereemployed for the sauce.

lHaving described the invention in detail, I claim:

l. A` method of preparing a frozen food package comprising cooking acondiment-containing sauce, separately cooking and then drainingarfoodstuff selected from the group consisting of rice and shaped anddried products of paste and alimentary paste, placing a relatively thicklayer of said sauce in a container of heat-conductive,moisture-impervious, self-supporting inert sheet material having an opentop face closable with a lid of similar inert sheet material to rendersaid container substantially moistureproof, freezing said sauce in situin said container to form a solid block of frozen sauce, filling theremainder of said container with said drained foodstu, closing saidcontainer to render it substantially moisture-proof, and freezing saidfoodstui.

2. A method of preparing a frozen spaghetti dinner package comprisingcooking a condirnent-containing sauce, separately cooking and thendraining spaghetti, placing a relatively thick layer of said sauce in acontainer of heat-conductive, moisture-impervious, self-supporting inertsheet metal having an open top face closable with a lid of similar inertsheet metal to render said container substantially moisture-proof,freezing said sauce in situ in said container to form a solid block offrozen sauce,

Furthermore, if thev filling the remainder of said container-with saiddrained spaghetti, closing said container to render it substantiallymoisture-proof, and freezing said spaghetti.

3. A method of preparing a frozen food package comprising cooking acondiment-containing sauce, separately cooking and then draining afoodstui selected from the group consisting of rice and shaped and driedproducts of paste and alimentary paste, providing a container ofheat-conductive, moisture-impervious, self-supporting inert sheetmaterial having an open top face closable With a lid of similar inertsheet material to render said container substantially moisture-proof,forming said sauce into a relatively thick frozen block complementary inshape with the bottom of said container and positioned therein, fillingthe remainder of said container with said drained foodstul, closing saidcontainer to render it substantially moisture-proof, and freezing saidfoodstuff.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,634,332 McGowan Iuly 5, 1927 1,955,484 Birdseye Apr. 17, 19342,166,278 Alderfer July 18, 1939 2,674,536 Fisher Apr. 6, 1954 FOREIGNPATENTS 646,499 Great Britain Nov. 22, 1950 OTHER REFERENCES ModernPackaging, November 1946, pages and 131, article entitled Frozen CookedMeals.

Food Engineering, November 1951, page 156, article entitled Frozen MealsEncased vin Aluminum.

Frosted Food Field, August 1952, page 24, article entitled Frigi Dinneris Offering Franchises for its Group- Feeding Combination.

1. A METHOD OF PREPARING A FROZEN FOOD PACKAGE COMPRISING COOKING ACONDIMENT-CONTAINING SAUCE, SEPARATELY COOKING AND THEN DRAINING AFOODSTUFF SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF RICE AND SHAPED ANDDRIED PRODUCTS OF PASTE AND ALIMENTARY PASTE, PLACING A RELATIVELY THICKLAYER OF SAID SAUCE IN A CONTAINER OF HEAT-CONDUCTIVE,MOISTURE-IMPERVIOUS, SELF-SUPPORTING INERT SHEET MATERIAL HAVING AN OPENTOP FACE CLOSABLE WITH A LID OF SIMILAR INERT SHEET MATERIAL TO RENDERSAID CONTAINER SUBSTANTIALLY MOIS-